Larry Ellison (with David Boies as his lawyer) has also recently won a brawl of a lawsuit over a yacht race. They may have made Larry over confident.
As for the yacht race lawsuit, Larry was effectively able to rest control of the most prestigious yacht race in the world via the court room when he couldn't on the water. The lawsuit dragged on for several years but ultimately it is setup Larry winning the championship and bringing it to San Fransico.
This puts me in mind of when you were telling me that some people get addicted to litigation to the point of losing interest in product development.